Summer is ordinarily public enemy number one to a supporter of a football club. Every two years we get respite with the Euros or the World Cup, but following a national team is not quite the same as the passion and togetherness you experience supporting a team like Oxford United.

This time of year therefore is a void, a gigantic black hole within which you try and wedge other diversions in the hope it might make time pass faster. This might be a holiday maybe, some other hobby, shopping on a Saturday afternoon or a music festival…..

This year we have been lucky enough to have Rob Da Bank’s brilliant Common People festival come to town. Indeed, it was so successful that it looks like this might become a routine occurrence. One thing that struck me at this festival was number of Oxford United fans in attendance. It was especially pleasing to see so many youngsters proudly wearing their colours. The season just past I think has been a significant one in encouraging new support, and the evidence was already here, but was to become even more apparent.

On twitter, independently, a few of us tweeted our attendance at the festival and an unplanned convergence was arranged at the front of the stage. The group: Public Enemy. It seemed a few of us shared an appreciation not only of England’s finest football club, but also the music of this New York hip hop group.

So we grouped up, some of us had never met before, but that’s how it often happens at OUFC away days, you’re best mates with whoever you happen to be next too for 90 mins. The music started and some of us were clearly enjoying it more than others (I’m looking at you @SwissYellow) and much like Liam Sercombe’s goal at Carlisle, limbs were in the air.

One member of Public Enemy was close to us and wearing a camouflaged military bucket hat. This inspired fellow U’s fan @Fred_ugly, also wearing a bucket hat, but his bearing the name and Ox logo of our beloved football club. He caught his attention and in, an improvised, but effective means of sign language let him know that it would be really cool if he wore the hat. With a nod it was confirmed and the hat was tossed, JUST making it on to the stage.

Once the hat was put on it became obvious how many fellow yellows were in the crowd. Chants of “Yellows, yellows, yellows” started as he stoically stared out into the crowd. Later the group spun a sample of White Stripes Seven Nation Army to which the crowd spontaneously supplemented with their own lyrics “Oh Callum O’Dowda”.

It became obvious to me then, that were very many Oxford fans enjoying that afternoon, all looking for that summer time distraction and in those brief moments with Public Enemy, it felt like we were all back on the terraces.

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I stopped blogging some time ago, because I simply did not have the time. I still don’t, but I heard something on Saturday that compelled me to make the time, and here I am tapping away because 140 characters do not allow me to fully express what I want to say.

After Saturday’s match against Wycombe a lady was interviewed by Selfie on BBC Oxford, she said something like “I used to be a season ticket holder, and thought I’d come today because of the Yellow Army push, but won’t be coming back”. That depressed me beyond words.

Mark Ashton is quite rightly asking supporters to back the team, and working with a number of fans promoted the Yellow Army Day initiative that undoubtedly boosted the gate. Credit by the way should go to Joe who works tirelessly to improve the fan experience, he gets knocks but he’s unwavering in his commitment. A lot of us moan about stuff, but he actually does something about it. I could say the same about the ‘Ultras’ who week in week out are doing their bit to improve the atmosphere and overall match day experience.

Anyway, I’ll get to the point. Once you get a crowd like that, if you want them to come back,then you need to WIN in front of them (I’m not talking here about the idiots like me, who would turn out even if we played a team of omni-limbed ballerina blindfolded hippos every week – David Kemp’s teams anyone?)

Since taking over the club the new owners have worked on improving the club in a number of areas. The scouting, the business initiatives, the match day experience, and enabling Michael Appleton to help shape entertaining football. There must be an endless list of tasks that need to be prioritised. However, the one objective I would prioritise over ALL, even the entertaining football, is to get wins, and at any cost.

The simple fact is that without wins the crowd’s will not start coming back. Take Wycombe as an example, last season at the Kassam they must have barely brought 100 fans, this year getting results, albeit not so prettily, but almost sold their end out. We can promote the hell out of the fan experience, and believe me, I do my bit, but until we start a run of results the crowds will not come back. Experience days may bring transient day trippers but sustained repeat visits (in any business) only come if value has been found, and in football there is no value greater than the joy from winning 3 points.

So, there it is, I came out of blogtirement, just to say: “we need to start winning”. I know, it’s a no-brainer, but the thing is it has to be prioritised. Yes, we have to build for the future. Yes we have to do things the right way, but if we don’t start winning soon a relegation tussle could set us back many years.

Here’s the business model: Winning brings back fans. Fans bring money. Money brings everything you need to set up long term success for our club.

Let’s start with the winning, and give that woman who I heard on BBC Oxford something to think about.

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AFTERTHOUGHT

I just read that back and was left with the question “So what actually do you want the management team to do?” I’m afraid I don’t know, but the overall theme is can you please direct your attention towards doing everything you can to get results on the pitch, whatever that might entail. I don’t know, perhaps you have all the answers reader, and if you do, do not hesitate to share them.

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United we Stand has been the club’s motto for this season, and while everything is going well on the pitch, it seems to be resonating. The club is going to great lengths to improve the atmosphere, the flag day announced by the Yellow Army for Saturday’s game against Wycombe being another such example. However, there’s one thing the club tried in our first home game against Bury that very much divided the fans: The pre-match music…..

The club brought in a DJ who spun a heady mix of adrenaline filled super-charged floor fillers to raise the atmosphere. As you would expect, this was met with a mixed response. There are those in the South Stand who look forward to their pre-match catch up and found the louder than usual euphoric beats drowned out their Werther Originals fuelled banter. In contrast there were those who felt the music did a good job at raising a frenetic pre-match build up. And there were others who hated ‘that kind of music’, and got all sulky.

It seems, there’s nothing like music to divide a crowd. One man’s filthy drub is another man’s aria, a similar passion, but diametrically opposed. For me, I liked the music they played pre-match, it’s the sort of stuff I have on my phone, but I’m not sure it really worked pre-match. Judging from the post match reaction I’m in a minority in liking it, so I think the club need to change something. Perhaps a more eclectic mix of familiar up-beat songs, that may even encourage vocal involvement, might be more likely to get things going. Below is a little list of songs that are not necessarily my taste in music, but are tunes that I have observed having an effect on a crowd, that might also reach a broader demographic.

Specials – One Step Beyond

Fratellis – Chelsea Dagger

House of Pain – Jump

The Prodigy – Stand Up (theme to KickAss)

Tomoyasu Hotei – Battle without honor or humanity

The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army

Nero – Me and You

Rudimental – Feel the love

Blur – Song 2

Oasis – Wonderwall

Guns n Roses – Livin on a Prayer

Monkees – Daydream Believer

Supergrass – Alright (a little bit of Oxford there)

And let’s keep some stuff like the “Boys are Back in Town” and “My heart bleeds for you The Yellow and the Blue”

Modulating the volume between the stands might also be an idea, so as not to compromise the South Stand’s coffee morning.

An even braver action might be to allow a silence; ten minutes before kick off deliberately play nothing, a challenge to the Yellow Army, that this is our time to make some noise. I remember times in the past when technical glitches have left a silence, and fans do not take long to fill that void, usually with derision, but nonetheless it’s a precedent. I like to think of the players waiting in the tunnel, hearing us in full voice.

This would of course need to be carefully done, I’m sure we all still bear the mental scars of Rosie’s “Give us an O”. I would prefer they just left it for us to sort out, there is always at least one drunk idiot who would get things going (see my previous blog post). If nothing else, it might encourage (however many) away fans to voice, which inevitably would elicit a response from us.

There is another thing the club should be praised, for and that’s for resisting the temptation to play music after a goal. Music after a goal is a sure sign of a club that’s hit rock bottom in its efforts for a better atmosphere; it’s an embarrassment, and should never happen at our home. And if it ever does, I’m going on hunger strike outside the club reception. Just saying.

I have to say the Yellow Army did a cracking job for the opener. Visually it was a sight to behold and I would like to hope, inspired the team. The area we need to improve as a group of fans, is our volume and staying power. The decisions on pre-match music in building a platform for this, are influential, and why I’m hoping the club is prepared to try different approaches in the pre-match music approach, to drum up an even better atmosphere. (Without a drum by the way, NEVER a drum)

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Let’s be honest, the atmosphere at home games last season was not great. Since the end of last season a group of hardworking folk have been making efforts to address this. Oxvox, The 12th Man, the guys behind the “Ultimate Support Days” and the Ultras have come under one banner “The Yellow Army”.

Their aim is to help shape the conditions to enable a much more positive match day experience; a better atmosphere with noise and colour for our enjoyment and the teams inspiration. The Yellow Army of course though, is not just this group, but every one of us, so I have been asking myself what can I do.

My conclusions are below, but to help illustrate my points please watch this brilliant video, which I make no excuse for sharing yet again:

What I love about this, is how the relentless enthusiasm of an idiot, starts a whole movement. I’ve heard debates about who the leader is in this video, is it the initial idiot or the guy who first joins him. Either way it needed them BOTH to make it happen, and there are many others who will have loved being a part of it. With this in mind, these are the things I pledge to do as a member of the Yellow Army:

1) Join The Idiot

If I hear or see someone making an effort to improve the atmosphere, I’m going to join in. It might be funny to chant “solo, solo” at him or her, but no that’s not how the Yellow Army rolls. Imagine a scenario where you walk into a room and you see a guy with a carrot up his nose. Naturally, you point and laugh. But what if everybody else in the room turns around, and they’ve all got veg in the nostrils. Suddenly THAT’S the norm, and YOU’RE the one with the problem. (Incidentally, I’m not saying we should all ruck up with veg nasally lodged, I’m using it as a device to illustrate how we can break the ‘norm’ if we don’t mind putting ourselves out a bit)

2) Be The Idiot

How great would it be to be that first bloke in that video? I’m not going to settle for apathy this season. Sorry, I’m just not.

3) Do It Loudly

Players who talk about how the fans inspired them, mention the noise and how loud the fans were. There are two elements to the noise that a group of fans can make, first, the number of fans, and then, how loud each of those fans are. The bit I can easily control is how loud I am, so I am going to sing and shout for me and another, and another. No just mouthing or clapping along, it’s out and out bellowing for me. Sorry row T.

4) EVERY Game

There will be those games when folks just aren’t up for it, we’ve all been to one of those. In those circumstances I’m just going to wait for something to happen, right? WRONG! I can’t believe you even read it. What if, one of our players turned up waiting for something to happen? *cough* Tom Craddock *cough*. It’s just not acceptable, it’s not happening on my watch, and it never will

So that’s it, my personal charter and pledge to the Yellow Army:

Be a part

Don’t settle for apathy

Be loud

Every game

Looking forward to many more of these. COME ON YOU YELLOWS, there’s a sleeping giant to wake, best not be quiet.

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13% of people are bad. That’s one of the conclusions from the book Freakonomics. That number: 13%, was found to be true and tested in a number of different scenarios, and so robust, that it is difficult to disprove.

Available at all good book shops (and probably some bad ones)

Now, that could mean that out of 100 people, 13 are pure evil, and the remaining 87 are living angels. Or, more likely, there is a sliding scale of “badness” in all of us:

Some of us are bad 13% of the time, conforming to the average, some of us 2% and some of us 60% (I know a few, think Paolo) – this is the law of averages.

Now, I don’t know what percentage of us are fickle, because that was not covered in the book, but what I can say about myself is that I have become like the ‘pure evil’ example above and confess right now, that I have become 100% fickle, especially in the case of Oxford United. More precisely; in the hours that follow an Oxford United match I am 100% pro Wilder or anti Wilder depending on the outcome. My ‘swing’ on this is wider than the ball-sac of a prize bull that’s been deprived for a whole mating season.

When Oxford lose, I will be thinking “We’re too big for this league, with our budget and fan-base we shouldn’t be playing the likes of Dagenham and Redbridge (no disrespect) week in week out, we should be 9 points clear at the top. How the hell can Hartle-bloody-pool be in the league above us? He’s had long enough…” Etc. you get the idea with that.

When Oxford win, I eye the league table and think “A couple more wins, and we’re in with a shout, why can’t people be more patient and loyal with Wilder, he’s done so much for us, and we had all the injuries and stuff…”.

I can’t help what I feel, it’s extreme, it goes either way, and I hope you respect my honesty. What I don’t do (and here comes the holier-than-though section, so those of an extroverted opinionated nature may want to look away now) I do not share my thoughts with others when we lose. I see this as destructive, and can’t really think that any good is going to come of that situation. I fully understand why others do though, we all need an outlet. Mine happens to be video games, so for every #Wilderout you see from others on twitter, I’ll have a floor full of decapitated zombies.

Picture used by kind permission of Tim Walker

I never used to be so fickle, but I think this is a result of our inconsistent form. This season has seen many extremes. We beat sw*ndon easily (again, again) we troubled the league leaders, and our individual players look like guys that should be getting promotion. Our first three games gave me a taste for something that for a while I believed in. Then came the record equaling run of defeats, and the still coldly simmering OUFC civil war. These extremes have driven me to become a fully fledged fickler (new word for you there) and the next time you see someone say “OMG, Oxford fans are so fickle” I will count myself as one of the subjects.

Whether or not I stay this fickle remains to be seen. It will take a consistent run of form in either direction to change, so until then I’ll keep putting Wilder on a pedestal or mentally seeking his resignation on an alternate weekly basis, and if you don’t hear from me after the Torquay match, it’s because I’m probably taking a zombie’s head clean off with a vileda mop handle.

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A round trip of 240 miles, the very real prospect of a long journey home in dreary driving conditions as a season for Oxford United fizzles out. The enormous cost of a tank of fuel and the 20 notes needed to get in. There are many reasons NOT to go to Port Vale.

However, to not go is, to me at least, unthinkable. I live for football. Moreover, I live for Oxford United. I have heard others say that they do not want to go because we have no chance of making the play offs. Their predicted outcome is I think very likely, but that’s not the point. After Saturday there will be no more games, for quite some time, I will be wandering around on a Saturday a lifeless husk. Sure, there’s a European Championship this summer, but it’s not the same. My interest in the international game has withered as over-paid buffoons, with whom I have no connection, generally make fools of themselves and perpetuate the worse of our national stereotypes.

Come early August, I will be at fever pitch with excitement for the season to come, it seems so far off already I can barely think about it. So Saturday you see is one last game, a chance to see my team play in a proper competitive situation. A game that in its own right, I want us to win. Whatever the outcome, we are Oxford United fans – the 12th Man, and we will sing our songs. Our songs will be heard by those that will stay, and will be heard of by those that will join us. Even if this battle in the Vale is won, it is surely likely that our fate is sealed for this campaign. Regardless we go; “Oxford ’til we die”, stoic, passionate. Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more.

(Apologies, this went a bit “Braveheart” at the end but the urge took me . SPARTANS! (Historical mix up deliberate))